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A Hostage to Fortune
Book by Gann, Ernest K.
Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
3 people are currently reading
114 people want to read
About the author
Ernest K. Gann
58 books98 followersErnest K Gann was an aviator, author, filmmaker, sailor, fisherman and conservationist.
After earning his pilot license, Gann spent his much of his free time aloft, flying for pleasure. The continuing Great Depression soon cost him his job and he was unable to find another position in the movie business. In search of work, he decided to move his family to California. Gann was able to find odd jobs at Burbank Airport, and also began to write short stories. A friend managed to get him a part-time job as a co-pilot with a local airline company and it was there that he flew his first trips as a professional aviator. In the late 1930s many airlines were hiring as many pilots as they could find; after hearing of these opportunities, Gann and his family returned to New York where he managed to get hired by American Airlines to fly the Douglas DC-2 and Douglas DC-3.
For several years Gann enjoyed flying routes in the northeast for American. In 1942, many U.S. airlines' pilots and aircraft were absorbed into the Air Transport Command of the U.S. Army Air Forces to assist in the War Effort. Gann and many of his co-workers at American volunteered to join the group. He flew DC-3s, Douglas DC-4s and Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express transports (the cargo version of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber). His wartime trips took him across the North Atlantic to Europe, and then on to Africa, South America, India, and other exotic places. Some of his most harrowing experiences came while flying The Hump airlift across the Himalayas into China. In the years to come Gann's worldwide travels and various adventures would become the inspiration for many of his novels and screenplays.
At the end of World War II, the Air Transport Command released the civilian pilots and aircraft back to their airlines. Gann decided to leave American Airlines in search of new adventures. He was quickly hired as a pilot with a new company called Matson Airlines that was a venture of the Matson steamship line. He flew from the U.S. West Coast across the Pacific to Honolulu. This experience spawned ideas that were developed into one of his best-known works, 'The High and the Mighty.' Matson ultimately soon fell prey to the politically well-connected Pan American Airlines and failed. After a few more short-lived flying jobs, Gann became discouraged with aviation and he turned to writing as a full-time occupation.
Gann's major works include the novel The High and the Mighty and his aviation focused, near-autobiography Fate Is the Hunter. Notes and short stories scribbled down during long layovers on his pioneering trips across the North Atlantic became the source for his first serious fiction novel, Island in the Sky (1944), which was inspired by an actual Arctic rescue mission. It became an immediate best-seller as did Blaze of Noon (1946), a story about early air mail operations. In 1978, he published his comprehensive autobiography, entitled A Hostage to Fortune.
Although many of his 21 best-selling novels show Gann’s devotion to aviation, others, including Twilight for the Gods, and Fiddler's Green reflect his love of the sea. His experiences as a fisherman, skipper and sailor, all contributed storylines and depth to his nautical fiction. He later wrote an autobiography of his sailing life called Song of the Sirens.
Gann wrote, or adapted from his books, the stories and screenplays for several movies and television shows. For some of these productions he also served as a consultant and technical adviser during filming. Although it received positive reviews, Gann was displeased with the film version of Fate Is the Hunter, and removed his name from the credits. (He later lamented that this decision cost him a "fortune" in royalties, as the film played repeatedly on television for years afterward.) He wrote the story for the television miniseries Masada, based on 'The Antagonists.'
After earning his pilot license, Gann spent his much of his free time aloft, flying for pleasure. The continuing Great Depression soon cost him his job and he was unable to find another position in the movie business. In search of work, he decided to move his family to California. Gann was able to find odd jobs at Burbank Airport, and also began to write short stories. A friend managed to get him a part-time job as a co-pilot with a local airline company and it was there that he flew his first trips as a professional aviator. In the late 1930s many airlines were hiring as many pilots as they could find; after hearing of these opportunities, Gann and his family returned to New York where he managed to get hired by American Airlines to fly the Douglas DC-2 and Douglas DC-3.
For several years Gann enjoyed flying routes in the northeast for American. In 1942, many U.S. airlines' pilots and aircraft were absorbed into the Air Transport Command of the U.S. Army Air Forces to assist in the War Effort. Gann and many of his co-workers at American volunteered to join the group. He flew DC-3s, Douglas DC-4s and Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express transports (the cargo version of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber). His wartime trips took him across the North Atlantic to Europe, and then on to Africa, South America, India, and other exotic places. Some of his most harrowing experiences came while flying The Hump airlift across the Himalayas into China. In the years to come Gann's worldwide travels and various adventures would become the inspiration for many of his novels and screenplays.
At the end of World War II, the Air Transport Command released the civilian pilots and aircraft back to their airlines. Gann decided to leave American Airlines in search of new adventures. He was quickly hired as a pilot with a new company called Matson Airlines that was a venture of the Matson steamship line. He flew from the U.S. West Coast across the Pacific to Honolulu. This experience spawned ideas that were developed into one of his best-known works, 'The High and the Mighty.' Matson ultimately soon fell prey to the politically well-connected Pan American Airlines and failed. After a few more short-lived flying jobs, Gann became discouraged with aviation and he turned to writing as a full-time occupation.
Gann's major works include the novel The High and the Mighty and his aviation focused, near-autobiography Fate Is the Hunter. Notes and short stories scribbled down during long layovers on his pioneering trips across the North Atlantic became the source for his first serious fiction novel, Island in the Sky (1944), which was inspired by an actual Arctic rescue mission. It became an immediate best-seller as did Blaze of Noon (1946), a story about early air mail operations. In 1978, he published his comprehensive autobiography, entitled A Hostage to Fortune.
Although many of his 21 best-selling novels show Gann’s devotion to aviation, others, including Twilight for the Gods, and Fiddler's Green reflect his love of the sea. His experiences as a fisherman, skipper and sailor, all contributed storylines and depth to his nautical fiction. He later wrote an autobiography of his sailing life called Song of the Sirens.
Gann wrote, or adapted from his books, the stories and screenplays for several movies and television shows. For some of these productions he also served as a consultant and technical adviser during filming. Although it received positive reviews, Gann was displeased with the film version of Fate Is the Hunter, and removed his name from the credits. (He later lamented that this decision cost him a "fortune" in royalties, as the film played repeatedly on television for years afterward.) He wrote the story for the television miniseries Masada, based on 'The Antagonists.'
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 29, 2021
I was writing an article on Soldier of Fortune, the film Ernest K. Gann scripted after his own novel, and discovered through my research that Gann had spent some time in Hong Kong and had fallen into something of a dispute with a man named Gingles, after whom Gann modeled the disgraceful Tweedie in his novel. Only sixteen pages out of Gann's 504 page autobiography deals with his experience in Hong Kong. I had seen the citation for it. So I ordered this book. Alas, by the time I received it, not only had I already submitted the article but it had in fact been published.
So what to do with this somewhat oversized autobiography? Gann's writing is interesting. His biography seemed fascinating. I decided to go ahead and read A Hostage to Fortune. And I'm happy I did so. It's quite a stunning work. Gann reveals himself as an impulsive and childish man (not childlike but childish). That isn't meant to detract from his story. He makes it clear himself that his feckless ways and constant search for physical thrills caused him to be a bad husband and often a worse father. He admits to financial irresponsibility and an inability to plan his life for so much as a month ahead of time on every other page. For someone who is a landmark figure in worldwide aviation history and a successful novelist, and Hollywood screenwriter, he is self-deprecatory about his experiences and achievements. So quick is he to give credit to others for his success that it sometimes seems he is gushing in his praise for everyone around him. Gann lived a life of excitement and adventure. And in this book he feels guilty about it.
But the passages where he lays out his guilt are balanced by the chapters in which he details the sheer joy he took in flying, sailing, and writing. Writing? Well, not so much writing but in researching, where he would instantly lose himself for weeks if not months at a time. (I understand the feeling.) He combined his research with a wanderlust across the globe, never until late in life feeling comfortable or satisfied in the US. (I understand the feeling.) And looking back over his accomplishments, he always questioned their place in the world of art, literature, and history. (I understand the feeling--if on a much less grander scale.)
This work was written in 1977 and published in 1978. Gann would live another fourteen years. There isn't another autobiography or memoir to cover those years. Too bad. I would like to know what he thought of the 1980s as they gave way to the 1990s. For he had already expressed great doubts about America's future in the 1960s and 1970s, believing not only had the country lost its spirit but the vitality and ingenuity of the people who allowed it to rise to post World War II dominance.
A note about this edition. It is a shoddy failure. It's a first edition I have, and the layout is terrible. Small print on oversized pages with small margins caused my eyes to become blurry so often, I began to have trouble reading. I know it is over 500 pages, but I wish the publisher had added an extra 100 pages and increased the size of the font to improve the experience. Gann deserved better. Other faults include no photographs. None!!! Anyone reading this in 1978 wouldn't even know what Gann looked like. And there are no maps. No charts. No chapter headings. No table of contents!!! The physical experience of reading this magnificent autobiography is miserable.
So what to do with this somewhat oversized autobiography? Gann's writing is interesting. His biography seemed fascinating. I decided to go ahead and read A Hostage to Fortune. And I'm happy I did so. It's quite a stunning work. Gann reveals himself as an impulsive and childish man (not childlike but childish). That isn't meant to detract from his story. He makes it clear himself that his feckless ways and constant search for physical thrills caused him to be a bad husband and often a worse father. He admits to financial irresponsibility and an inability to plan his life for so much as a month ahead of time on every other page. For someone who is a landmark figure in worldwide aviation history and a successful novelist, and Hollywood screenwriter, he is self-deprecatory about his experiences and achievements. So quick is he to give credit to others for his success that it sometimes seems he is gushing in his praise for everyone around him. Gann lived a life of excitement and adventure. And in this book he feels guilty about it.
But the passages where he lays out his guilt are balanced by the chapters in which he details the sheer joy he took in flying, sailing, and writing. Writing? Well, not so much writing but in researching, where he would instantly lose himself for weeks if not months at a time. (I understand the feeling.) He combined his research with a wanderlust across the globe, never until late in life feeling comfortable or satisfied in the US. (I understand the feeling.) And looking back over his accomplishments, he always questioned their place in the world of art, literature, and history. (I understand the feeling--if on a much less grander scale.)
This work was written in 1977 and published in 1978. Gann would live another fourteen years. There isn't another autobiography or memoir to cover those years. Too bad. I would like to know what he thought of the 1980s as they gave way to the 1990s. For he had already expressed great doubts about America's future in the 1960s and 1970s, believing not only had the country lost its spirit but the vitality and ingenuity of the people who allowed it to rise to post World War II dominance.
A note about this edition. It is a shoddy failure. It's a first edition I have, and the layout is terrible. Small print on oversized pages with small margins caused my eyes to become blurry so often, I began to have trouble reading. I know it is over 500 pages, but I wish the publisher had added an extra 100 pages and increased the size of the font to improve the experience. Gann deserved better. Other faults include no photographs. None!!! Anyone reading this in 1978 wouldn't even know what Gann looked like. And there are no maps. No charts. No chapter headings. No table of contents!!! The physical experience of reading this magnificent autobiography is miserable.
February 5, 2021
A look at Gann's entire life; childhood dreams, life's adventures, peccadillos, and personal philosophy. If you like "Fate is the Hunter," don't miss this autobiography.
February 11, 2020
This book and Gann's "Fate is the Hunter" were among those on my late father's bookshelf for decades. I kept them to read myself, to see the kind of book he enjoyed. Dad was a pilot, beginning before WWII, flying transport in Europe-Africa-India during the war, later bush-piloting along the BC coast and Canadian Arctic (his favourite years), then as senior pilot with an international company, moving from Otters, Beavers and a DC-3 to a Hawker Siddeley 125 business jet. These books by Ernest Gann must have been good reads for my father. He received this book as a gift in 1961.
The writing is detailed and well put together - and what an incredible memory Gann had! He writes honestly and self-deprecatingly about his many experiences. This book is about his youth and exploring and exploiting his many and varied interests.
I won't rate this book, since I did not read the entire thing, rather, I skipped through it.
(I'll repeat much of this review on the other book's page.)
The writing is detailed and well put together - and what an incredible memory Gann had! He writes honestly and self-deprecatingly about his many experiences. This book is about his youth and exploring and exploiting his many and varied interests.
I won't rate this book, since I did not read the entire thing, rather, I skipped through it.
(I'll repeat much of this review on the other book's page.)
May 22, 2017
Gann is very descriptive. I enjoy his thorough recounting of history leading to the events that influenced his life toward flying. Who would have ever thought that someone would fly to the artic to help supply the military? I recommend any of his writings about aviation. I haven't read any other of his offerings.
March 12, 2020
You won't believe what he went through.
August 25, 2007
E. Gann tells more about his early life.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews